Summary: Choices have consequences. Paul has clearly shown how God has revealed Himself to mankind and yet man continues to reject God. The results of that rejection has effects in individual lives as well as in societies as a whole. What are those results and

Have you ever been in a situation where you have tried to help someone and they just continued to reject your help or take what you want to be help and instead just use it to enable them for further destructive behavior?

Alcohol

Maybe a friend or family member has had a problem with alcohol or drugs and you have covered for them and sat down with them to help them overcome this problem, but they continue to do the same thing and they continue to expect your “help” in avoiding the consequences.

Debt

Maybe you have a friend or family member that had massive amounts of debt, and you have helped them to get out of it, and sat down to get them on a budget they can sustain, but then they return to racking up the credit card debt again, living outside of what they can afford. Then they come to you again and expect you to help them if you love them.

At some point, as we have tried to help people, as they continue to reject the help we offer or use our help to enable their behavior, we are no longer helping them and we need to let them deal with the consequences of the lifestyle they are choosing.

This doesn’t mean we stop loving or caring about them. In fact, it usually means we care for them greatly to no longer enable their destructive behavior. We stop enabling them in hopes that they will hit a bottom and realize that the course they are following has got to change or it will continue to bring destruction.

Transition

Well, as God has revealed Himself to man and man rejects Him or replaces Him with false gods, and people live godlessly and wickedly, we are going to see the God “gives them over” to their sinful lifestyle. But giving them over does not mean that God gives up on them. God stands ready to forgive and receive into His family those who repent and turn from their wickedness.

Prodigal Son

You remember the story of the Prodigal Son. He asked his father for his inheritance basically saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead. Show me the money because that is all I care about.” There was probably a lot that led up to the point of the prodigal actually receiving what his father gave him and him leaving, but the father lets the son go, not because he wants him gone, but because he recognizes that he needs to deal with the effects of what he is choosing.

Well the son spends everything and is starving desiring even the slop the pigs are eating. It is at this point, when the son hits rock bottom and recognizes his sin and wickedness, that he decides to return in repentance.

Well the father sees him from a distance and runs to receive him back and welcome him into the family.

Just as the prodigal’s father stood ready to receive his son, the heavenly Father loves men and stands ready to receive you if you would repent and turn from your wickedness.

So this morning, we are going to continue on in Romans and see some of the effects that rejecting God can lead to in our lives and in our society.

God’s wrath is against the godlessness and wickedness that is rampant in a society that rejects and replaces the true, personal and holy God, with either no god or false gods.

The reality is that men who do not believe in God or replace Him with false gods have no excuse for not believing because God has faithfully made Himself known to all men through creation and our conscience.

And as men continue to reject God, it will lead to God letting them walk down the path they are choosing.

To those who continue to reject God and follow themselves, Paul writes the following verses.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Choices have consequences. Paul has clearly shown how God has revealed Himself to mankind and yet man continues to reject God. The results of that rejection has effects in individual lives as well as in societies as a whole. What are those results and